Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: [TBD]
Chapter Title: Fiancée's Bombshell and the Layer Boss
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Did we get it?
Among those tracking Kim Yongchan, the Supreme Lee Clan—which had placed the bounty on his head—was naturally included.
Through a mole inside the Korean Hunter Association, they had been monitoring his movements in real time. The moment they heard he'd entered a dungeon, they rushed straight to the portal located in the clan's underground chambers.
"If it's a portal leading to a dungeon, then our Supreme Lee Clan has one too."
They planned to pursue Kim Yongchan directly through the portal within their estate, one that had stood alongside the clan's history for a thousand years.
All but one person.
Pop.
Crunch.
Thud.
"Wh-what?!" "What in the world is this, Princess?!" That is, until they ran into the First Princess, who had ambushed and taken down their entire prepared force. "Betraying... the clan?" The old women from the branch families—known as the clan's 'elders'—berated Lee Gok. She was the designated next successor, yet here she was pointing her blade at fellow clan members. But if anyone had the right to be angry, it was her. "Betrayal? Isn't that exactly what you did to me?" "Pardon...?" "Us?" "That's right." Lee Gok shot back, her eyes gleaming with murderous intent as she stared down the utterly shameless elders. "That man you're scheming to use for forced insemination, all for the clan's so-called revival... Kim Yongchan..." With that absurd bombshell of a declaration, she stepped into the portal alone. "...is my fiancé."
Back to the present.
"Wh-wh-wh-who said anything about a fiancé?!"
"Kim Yongchan and me."
House-sized layer lord or no, nothing could have left me more dumbfounded than this bombshell.
I mean, not just any hunter clan—the successor to the Supreme Lee Clan, one of the world's top ten families? Engaged?
"Wh-who decided that..."
"My life savior decided it."
Lee Gok didn't back down an inch against me.
I wanted to argue right then and there, but she'd just saved our pirate ship from the layer lord, too.
Which meant she really was my life savior. I couldn't even deny it outright.
"Plus, you promised we'd go to the moon together for our honeymoon."
"No, that wasn't a honeymoon, it was..."
"And don't I need some kind of justification to help you out? This gives me one."
Justification.
A pretext...
True, if I became Lee Gok's fiancé, even with the clan bounty, she'd have grounds to intervene. A classic case of internal family drama.
But did that mean I should just accept this burdensome status?
Especially since if those two elders found out I was her fiancé...
"Breed him! Breed him!"
"Dick! Dick!"
...they probably wouldn't say it quite so crudely.
But they'd scheme something like it anyway.
"By the way, the one who sent me to you was Seolgi."
"Seolgi...? Lee Seolgi?!"
That was the name of my childhood friend, one I hadn't heard in ages.
The instant I heard her name, I grabbed Lee Gok by both shoulders and started grilling her for updates.
"Come to think of it, how's she doing? Is she okay? Eating properly? Any injuries? She hasn't gotten hurt by anyone, has she!?"
"Y-Yongchan...?"
"Ah, sorry... I just really wanted to know."
I'd gripped too hard. Lee Gok averted her gaze, looking uncomfortable.
I apologized in a hurry.
"Seolgi's doing well."
"...!"
"She's eating fine, and after you left the clan estate, she even jumped into a princess title challenge duel herself this time."
"A title challenge duel...? And she went in personally?"
"Yes. She won handily and reclaimed her princess title."
Her actions after the chaos I'd caused at the clan estate.
She'd once been stripped of her princess status and teetered on the brink.
"...I can't waste this life Yongchan saved."
Seolgi had pulled herself together.
This time, she initiated the challenge duel herself and nailed a perfect revenge match.
She was back on top as a princess now.
"Phew. That's a relief. That girl..."
"...You were really worried about her, huh?"
"Of course! She's my only friend. I worried if she was eating right, sleeping okay... it was endless."
Even parting on awkward terms had left a bad taste.
Sometimes I'd get down thinking about her, but now I didn't have to.
Meanwhile.
"Yongchan, you were engaged?"
"Huh?"
"Ah, Captain."
"Damn it. Why didn't you say so sooner? I could've set up a separate cabin while you slept..."
Captain Jolly Roger had been standing there blankly, eavesdropping.
I'd forgotten about her for a sec. She'd apparently assumed I was single and now looked genuinely sorry.
"Phew. Talk about close—I almost sucked off a taken man's dick."
"Uh... Yongchan. Who's this woman, anyway? Her outfit looks straight out of a pirate comic..."
"Pirate, correct. And not just any pirate—the infamous Pirate King, Jolly Roger."
"Jolly R-Roger?!"
A pirate who didn't rape men and even treated me carefully once she heard about my fiancée.
I introduced Captain Roger to Lee Gok just as she was.
And as expected...
"This is the scourge of the seas from the Hunter Encyclopedia... Pirate King Jolly Roger?"
Lee Gok's jaw dropped in disbelief.
"The one who blew up Great Empire warships like it was breakfast...?"
"Only hit 'em during meals and wiped the whole fleet."
"Rumor has it she even laid hands on royalty..."
"Some princess from who-knows-where showed up with a strap-on, begging me to take her virginity. Sent her off with a bang, just like she wanted."
"The... Semen Beer Contest inaugural winner...?"
"Yep, that's me! Personal record's over 2 liters, by the way."
The encyclopedia painted her as humanity's betrayer, a monster worse than monsters.
But reality was a far cry.
She might as well be an adventurer in pirate garb.
I sighed over the 'sweet pirate girl' reality clashing with childhood tales—until Lee Gok muttered something.
"...Well, even Mother had sides too filthy for the books."
"......?"
She took it in stride, like records could be twisted anytime. Felt oddly familiar.
"Anyway, we're shipmates now, right?"
"Oh yeah! A powerhouse like you joining the crew? Sign me up!"
"Then consider me a temporary crew member for now."
"Love the attitude!"
The two hit it off surprisingly well.
We turned back to the layer lord, frozen by Lee Gok's 'Blood Command.'
"S-sss...!"
Its blood control disrupted as it shrank too small to handle, Yorgamund glared at Lee Gok in unison.
"Just so you know, what I've got it locked in is a fraction of my power."
"Damn, my sword broke too. So how the hell do we take this thing down?"
"First off, let me try my Fire Cannon."
The opponent was a deep-layer lord.
Would my attacks even work on such a monstrosity?
The thought crossed my mind.
But.
My magic stat's a whopping 10.
Unlike my other single-digit stats, magic was double digits.
Trusting that power, I faced the rigid Yorgamund gaping right in front of me.
"Fire Cannon, ready."
"...!"
"Encounter."
BOOM!
I shoved the heavy sniper rifle down its maw and unleashed a full-power red laser.
And then.
"K-KIEEEK?!"
"...!"
"It worked..."
"Yeah!"
Even a layer lord was still a serpent at heart.
Cold-blooded as they were, the sudden heat spike must've shocked it badly.
"KIEEEEEEK!"
Freed from the blood command, it writhed in agony midair.
"Finish it off? Leave that to me!"
Captain Roger snatched a new sword from a ghost crewman, leaped sky-high, and cleaved through the weakened, scorched scales on Yorgamund's head.
Slash.
"...! We did it!"
"Hahaha! Damn! Took long enough, you cursed dungeon!"
"Does this mean we've cleared the deep layer?"
"Yep! Just need to bag the layer lord, and the whole thing collapses!"
The serpent's head swimming through the air thudded onto the deck.
Meanwhile.
Captain Roger—trapped over 200 years in this sea-only deep layer, longer than my own stint—landed on the deck but kept hopping around in joy at escaping this nightmare dungeon of her dreams.
I was right there with her.
"Out we go! We're getting out!"
"200 points! 200 points!"
Quest clear reward, plus layer lord subjugation to boot.
Last time, a penalty human-slime got me Lime. What massive bonus awaited now?
Whatever it was, I'd bump all other stats to at least 5.
On the way here, I bagged bounty hunters for four level-ups and 40 points. Add quest reward 200 points and layer lord kill...
Man, I'm stuffed.
Too full from all this feed.
Wonder what Levi gets after I hog it all.
Me, obviously.
"...When do we get the rewards?"
We danced around the deck, eagerly awaiting rewards or escape.
Squirm squirm.
"Hm?"
"Huh?"
We were lost in pleasant thoughts when...
"...! Yongchan, and Jolly Roger! Yorgamund isn't dead yet!"
"Huh...?"
"Wh-what?!"
Lee Gok pointed at the severed head on deck—an impossibility.
Our laughter turned to shock. Like broken wind-up dolls, we warily turned to the headless body... no, the head now gaping its mouth.
"...Phew."
What emerged from the house-sized head was no longer serpentine, but human-shaped.
"Hi there?"
A voluptuous human Yorgamund—with serpentine hair—appeared before us.